Famous Works on Family Management: The Family Instructions of Zhu Zi, Words for Teaching Children, Poems for Primary Education, and the Family Letters of Zeng Guofan

Author: Zhang Baoxi
Annotation:
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The Family Precepts of Zhu Zi, also known as The Family Rules of Zhu Zi, is a famous Qing Dynasty-era family manual. Since the Qing Dynasty, no other family manual has been as widely circulated or renowned as this one. It has reached the point of being household names. The author, Zhu Boliu, styled Yongchun and styled Zhiyi, styled Boliu. Born a Ming Dynasty scholar, he was unable to enter the service after the Qing Dynasty took over the country and instead taught students in his hometown. Throughout his life, he wrote works such as Commentary on the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, Collected Works of Regret, and Admonitions. Among these, the most famous is undoubtedly this family manual. This manual consists of 516 characters, mostly consisting of aphorisms and memorable sentences, with fluent and easy-to-remember language and profound yet simple. The ideas it embodies are largely Confucian, particularly the concepts of Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism, but it is not rigid. On the contrary, it is full of a strong sense of life and is closely related to people's daily lives, providing practical guidance for behavior. For example, "Do not rely on power to bully the lonely and the widowed, nor indulge in cravings and excessively kill living beings." Treat others with peace and kindness, and also be kind to animals. This idea is not outdated but is very relevant to people's livelihoods. This manual contains many admonishing words. At first glance, they seem ordinary, but upon closer reflection, they can make one suddenly realize. For instance: "To arise with lustful thoughts upon seeing beauty, the retribution falls upon one's wife and daughters; to harbor grievances and use hidden daggers, the curse extends to one's descendants." "To show envy at wealth and status, the worst thing one can do is stop; to act arrogantly in poverty, the worst thing one can do is not." It advises people to abandon evil and embrace goodness, to be a person of high moral character, to be strict with oneself and not to demand too much from others, to focus on cultivating one's personal virtues, to be warm and caring to everyone, with a clear and upright heart, free from envy and resentment, and to be understanding of others, putting their well-being at heart—even animals are included in one's circle of love. Even more so, one must not, like many people today, abuse and kill animals, cruelly and inhumanely treat one's own kind, desperately pursue external sensory pleasures, lack integrity and shamelessness, act unscrupulously and brutally without restraint—none of these are in line with what this manual emphasizes.